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Sri Lanka made a remarkable transition to online tertiary education after closing its higher education institutions in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. According to the universities surveyed, nearly 90 per cent of student respondents have been able to access online education. The lack of consistently stable, high-speed internet access was the most significant challenge for students and faculty in continuing tertiary education during the early onset of COVID-19. This brief outlines lessons and opportunities to improve online learning modalities based on the experiences of Sri Lanka on the transition to online tertiary education due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Sri Lanka has made improving access to quality tertiary education a top priority under its new economic framework. But the pandemic has resulted in emerging issues and challenges given the need for a radical shift toward online learning. This brief underscores the need to step up policies and measures for equal access to online learning that caters to and addresses the needs of education institutions, faculty, and students.

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This brief explores new challenges and opportunities that are emerging amid the prolonged, partial, or full university closures in Sri Lanka due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It summarizes the findings from the second online higher education survey conducted by the Asian Development Bank in November-December 2021 to better understand the progress, persistent challenges, and perceptions of different stakeholders. It provides an update on user experiences in online higher education in the country. The first online higher education survey was conducted in June 2020.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website. Show less